Kris Buxton-Dean (he/him)

Rosie’s Brain is a tender and heartfelt musical exploration of navigating life and relationships with mental illness. Evelyn’s voice soars with moving original music that channels a folky pop style reminiscent of Sara Bareilles. The story is funny, real, heartfelt, and leaves you with a little bit of restored faith in humanity.... full review

Watching Cindy is Right Now is like getting in a bubble bath at the end of a long, hard day. Everything about this show is sweet and heartfelt in a way that leaves you smiling constantly. The central premise is inventive and slightly meta, and allows Lacy Allen to play a character so delightful it restores your faith in humanity. I laughed, I was moved and, just like Cindy, I didn’t want the story to end.... full review

Elena Martinez sizzles (literally) as a clownish reinvention of Goody Proctor in this surprising clown extravaganza, delivering wild discoveries and laugh-out-loud immersive bits. The overarching conceit of Goody wanting to be seen as a witch alone is a hilarious premise, but Elena pushes this even further constantly subverting expectations of what scrutiny does to a person. Elena’s performance is giddy, darkly funny, occasionally profound, and always a great time.... full review

In a world saturated by truly awful politicians doing truly awful things, Vote for Tom Ryan manages to critique American Politics without dwelling on the negativity that could trigger most audience members. The story serves as satire of political corruption with enough distance from actual politics to craft a story that both has a message and is laugh-out-loud hilarious. The characters are so clear and well written that you can’t help fall in love with each of them despite their flaws. The cast’s... full review

Simply put: this was the best Fringe Show I’ve ever seen. The story is wildly entertaining and deeply nuanced. This brilliant script by Jessica Fisher masterfully unpacks heavy topics of sexual assault with twists, turns, and just the right amount of humor. The whole cast is locked in with performances that are somehow both natural and larger than life. The direction is bold and precise as the mounting conflicts build to a jaw dropping finale. I have never seen a play that left me with more quest... full review

With a set comprised of 6 full sized doors and a large cast of 9 actors, The Key to Success is one of the most ambitious shows I’ve seen at Hollywood Fringe. The show is a classic farce as a woman tries (and fails) to control the chaos unfolding around her. The script features joke after joke, keeps you on your toes, and has a very funny central premise.... full review

What makes this show work so well is that Andrea is a gem of a human being. At the core of the story is a message of healing and a genuine longing to help others feel more comfortable in their own skin. While the overall message is uplifting, that’s not to say that every moment of comedy is light-hearted. The stories that Andrea tells go into mind bogglingly dark places, yet somehow Andrea keeps you laughing even through the darkest moments. She clearly has a ton of experience working a crowd and... full review

Eat the Mama is a raw and vulnerable look at Motherhood through heightened theatricality and science-fiction theming. From the first moment of the show’s impressive sound design you are immersed in the lonely world of a spaceship hurdling through space. The minimalist set, sound design, and lights are startlingly effective at creating the show’s ambience, and the story is driven beautifully forward by Jessica Mele’s truly stellar (or perhaps in this case interstellar) performance. The show featur... full review

A Haunting Revue is exactly what it sets out to be: Twilight Zone style stories performed onstage. Down to the setting and costumes, the show leans into campy, surreal vibes and 60’s aesthetic that audiences likely associate with the series. There’s even a Rod Serling type narrator who comes onstage to introduce the various vignettes. The real highlight of this production is the second story about a meeting between Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. This vignette is a subtle character piece wit... full review

Suzannah Butcher is a theatrical treasure with a heart of gold. The stories that she has woven together are guaranteed to warm your heart and put a smile on your face. Additionally, this show featured some of the cleanest character and accent work I have ever seen. While the turbulence of motherhood is a major theme of the show, I’d say the even more prominent message is about self discovery in the face of adversity, which makes this show profoundly relatable whether you have children or not. I d... full review